Jerusalem’s mayor threatened last week to demolish 200 homes in Palestinian neighbourhoods of the city in an act even he conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in East Jerusalem to a boil.

His uncompromising stance is the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the jumble of modest homes of Silwan, a deprived and overcrowded Palestinian community lying just outside the Old City walls, in the shadow of the silver-topped al Aqsa mosque.

Beit Yehonatan, or Jonathan’s House, is distinctive not only for its height – at seven storeys, it is at least three floors taller than its neighbours – but also for the Israeli flag draped from the roof to the street.

Jerusalem’s mayor threatened last week to demolish 200 homes in Palestinian neighbourhoods of the city in an act even he conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in East Jerusalem to a boil.His uncompromising stance is the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the jumble of modest homes of Silwan, a deprived and overcrowded Palestinian community lying just outside the Old City walls, in the shadow of the silver-topped al Aqsa mosque.

Israeli forces have raided a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, arresting at least 40 people.

The arrests on Monday at the Shuafat camp in annexed east Jerusalem were part of an operation that Israeli police said was aimed at “putting order” in the area.

Al Jazeera’s Elias Karram, reporting from the camp, said: “The raid was divided into two parts: the first of which ended on Monday when Israeli army and intelligence forces invaded the came and detained around 40 poeple based on their political affliation – either to Hamas or Fatah.

As the descent into the slippery slope of racism continues nabated in this land of apartheid, the angle and degree of the slide seem to surprise many. The Israeli parliament (Knesset) has a “Constitution, Law and Justice Committee” terms that only sound similar to what exists in a Western democracy. But the “Jewish state” is “special” where a committee with this name drafts laws to discourage inter-religious marriages, to deny Jerusalemites residency rights, to declare it legal to take land for Jewish
development from those natives who happen to be non-Jews, and to flaunt many other basic rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

THERE IS a danger that all these struggles will become something like “cities of refuge” for young idealists, who desire to devote themselves to a noble cause, but have no desire to take part in the main struggle.

As in many Jewish Holidays, a humourous way of looking at them is “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat! That just about sums it up….

Today, the tables are turned….. The Hebrews are the ones doing the killing…. all that seems to be missing is a Chanukah type miracle….. Palestinians want to eat as well!

However, as the portion of the wall already built will be removed, farmers will expect significant damage to their olive groves located in the area.

On Tuesday this week the Government of Israel destroyed crops in the Bedouin village of Al-Mazraa. “Crops” hardly defines the one inch high wheat that the community has managed to grow in the desert land. The Bedouin farmers do not have water allocations like their Jewish counterparts, and are dependent on rain. The annual average is 2 inches of rain.. This year was a better year, but even on a good year the wheat does not grow tall enough to be harvested and is used as grazing for the sheep of the residents of this village – one of the poorest communities in Israel. But the government officials were not pleased that this year was blessed with rain – and re-plowed the land to make sure the meager crop will be destroyed.

His political credibility wagered on the peace process, Palestinian President Abbas is not coping well with Israel’s perpetual intransigence, writes Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah

The meeting opened with a color guard, young people carrying large Palestinian flags through the hall as the people sang the Palestinian national anthem. Lamis Deek of Al-Awda acted as MC and kept the program moving. Many leaders of the Arab-American community spoke about the need to renew a commitment for action to support a people who “seek freedom and justice for all”.

Citing “security reasons” – the ubiquitous and unanswerable catch-all phrase against which it is almost impossible to mount any defense — Israel’s Ministry of the Interior has just issued a six-month travel ban on Palestinian map expert Khalik Toufakji.

When, for the umpteenth time, the inspectors arrive at the settlers’ building they find it shuttered. They are unable to gain access. It is not clear whether anybody is at home. Shrugging their shoulders the inspectors move on to deliver demolition orders on more accessible targets – Palestinian families.

Anyway, they know that there are powerful forces determined to ensure that this display of equal application of the law to Jews and Arabs remains precisely that – a demonstration.

For some Upper West Side residents, their usual stroll down Broadway this evening had a surprise: a group of 20 New York Jews denouncing Israel’s occupation of Palestine were standing with thought-provoking signs while a few passed out flyers.

Monday started with the news that the Israeli military has decided to reoccupy part of Ush Al-Ghrab in Beit Sahour after having left it in 2006 and Tuesday saw the army begin clearing land of Ush Ghrab. Ush Ghrab is part public (Palestinian) land but a major part of it is private lands that was put off limit to their owners for nearly four decades and used as a center for the occupation forces in Bethlehem district. From this military camp, nearly 300 Palestinian homes were partially or completely destroyed in 2002 and 2003.

The United States seems to live on illusions…… illusions of hope, change and more that have no connection to the reality of life. Whitewashing the war crimes that were carried out in Gaza last year is a part of those illusions. Perhaps the logic is that if Israel is not quite guilty as charged, then those that aided Israel in those crimes might not be charged later on.

A PRCS report said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired 15 times at its ambulance vehicles in the West Bank and Gaza Strip killing one of the volunteers in Gaza and wounding ten others in addition to damaging 22 ambulance vehicles.

It added that the IOF troops obstructed its teams on 440 occasions while carrying casualties and patients to hospitals and clinics.

The right is terrified of peace. And, in the end, the right’s fear of peace will be the death of Israel.

They are afraid of peace, in part, because it threatens the core of what has come to replace other values as the goal of Judaism: permanent settlement of the West Bank. But that is only a part of it.

50 Israeli and international supporters gathered today in Sheikh Jarrah to help Palestinian residents rebuild the Gawi family tent after it was demolished by police earlier in the day. The event, called by neighborhood residents and ISM activists, created a sense of support, solidarity and community in the face of high tension and repression by authorities.

The Israeli military recently dropped hundreds of leaflets warning Palestinian residents from the village of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip not to travel within 300 meters of the border — the distance of Israel’s so-called “buffer zone.” In response, local activists marched to and nonviolently demonstrated inside the “buffer zone” against the illegal action. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre recently spoke with demonstration organizer Saber Zanin.

Snow is predicted in Jerusalem on Thursday…. Evicted families in Sheikh Jarrah who were living in tents outside of THEIR homes are now living on the street. Hopefully the situation will change later today…..

Israel has delivered a report to the UN defending its actions in last year’s Gaza war and insisting its troops did not violate international law, but has not agreed to hold an independent investigation as demanded.

“When the world is talking Goldstone, we talk Holocaust, as if out to blur the impression. When the world talks occupation, we’ll talk Iran as if we wanted them to forget.”

But Levy, like many other conscientious observers, know this won’t help the Israeli goal of making the world forget the Palestinians, or more specifically what Israel has done and is doing to them.

Ayman Talal Quader is a blogger from the Nuseirat refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip. He launched his blog “Voice From Gaza” (www.peaceforgaza.blogspot.com) during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter. Aywan chronicled eyewitness accounts of the war and the continuing siege of the territory as well as his own attempts to leave Gaza in order to further his education in Spain. Although classes start on 8 February, he has yet to receive approval from the Egyptian government to travel to Cairo for his flight to Spain. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre recently spoke with Ayman in Gaza.

Nasser Gawi and one settler have been expelled from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah for 15 days after the settler attacked local residents and threatened them with an M-16.

In 1917, a simple typed letter of 68 words signed by Lord Balfour, foreign minister of England and addressed to the Jewish banker, Lord Rothschild, proscribed Palestine, still under Ottoman rule, "a national homeland for the Jews." It became known as the “Balfour Declaration” and used a manifesto by Zionists to justify their illegal, immoral, and genocidal design on Palestine.

"In Palestine, we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country…Zionism, be it right or wrong, is rooted in age-old traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.” - Lord Balfour, UK Foreign Minister

In the richest of the Occupied lands, Israeli bureaucracy is driving Palestinians out of their homes.

The Israeli official figures seriously underestimated the civilian Palestinian death toll exacted during its onslaught in Gaza early this year, according to painstaking research to be published today.

The first detailed casualty figures from an Israeli human rights organisation since the war ended puts the number of children under 16 killed in the offensive at 252 as opposed to the 89 cited by the military. B’Tselem says its fieldworkers gathered death certificates, photos, and testimonies relating to all 252 of the children.

We spent the day in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem today. 28 Palestinian refugee families are at the threat of being evicted from their homes to become refugees again. Four families have already been evicted and thrown out on the streets of Sheikh Jarrah by Settlers with the support of the Israeli government – Police and Military involved.

“. . . the global movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions, BDS, against Israel presents not only a progressive, anti-racist, sophisticated, sustainable, moral and effective form of civil, non-violent resistance, but a real chance of becoming the political catalyst and moral anchor for a strengthened, reinvigorated international social movement capable of reaffirming the rights of all humans to freedom, equality and dignity and the right of nations to self-determination.” — Omar Barghouti

The conspicuous failure of the latest visit to the region by US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell raises questions as to the Obama administration’s ability — or even willingness — to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands. Prior to his arrival, Mitchell was widely thought to be carrying “serious ideas” that would help resume stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

They world of today is one hypocritical mess. Despite high-sounding sentiments and slogans, the killings are still going on and there is injustice everywhere. The rich and the powerful are still inventing, producing and equipping themselves with more and more weapons of mass destruction (WMD) even as they go to war to stop others from having the WMD.

“The Goldstone Report is a distorted, false, and irresponsible report.”

An increase in the activities in Occupied East Jerusalem has apparently sparked enough interest throughout the world for YouTube to agree not to pull the videos off the Web. Could we be seeing an end to their zionist censorship? Let’s hope so…..

The government of Israel has siphoned over a billion shekels in money taken from Palestinian laborers for national insurance between 1970-1994, a report released on Wednesday states.

According to the report, compiled by the workers’ rights organization Kav LaOved, between the years 1970-1994 over NIS 1 billion was withheld from Palestinian workers’ salaries in order to pay their national insurance, but in practice, the report states, the money was instead funneled to the Finance Ministry and used to pay National Labor Union fees, even while the workers were not given membership in the union.

“In any situation in which a non-Jew’s presence endangers Jewish lives, the non-Jew may be killed even if he is a righteous Gentile and not at all guilty for the situation that has been created…When a non-Jew assists a murderer of Jews and causes the death of one, he may be killed, and in any case where a non-Jew’s presence causes danger to Jews, the non-Jew may be killed…The [Din Rodef] dispensation applies even when the pursuer is not threatening to kill directly, but only indirectly…Even a civilian who assists combat fighters is considered a pursuer and may be killed. Anyone who assists the army of the wicked in any way is strengthening murderers and is considered a pursuer. A civilian who encourages the war gives the king and his soldiers the strength to continue.

Over 20 village residents – including 14 children – were targeted by Israeli soldiers in a volley of tear gas and rubber coated bullets as they took refuge in the Tamimi family house in An Nabi Salih. The residents were not part of the weekly demonstration and children from surrounding houses had gathered there for safety. One boy was hit in the stomach with a gas canister. Five people, children and elderly women, were taken away in ambulances and treated for injuries including tear gas asphyxiation.

Israel plundered and destroyed tens of thousands of Palestinian books in the years after the State’s establishment, according to a doctoral thesis to be submitted next month by a Ben-Gurion University researcher.

In an interview with the researcher published on al-Jazeera’s website Thursday, he claimed that Israel destroyed the Palestinian books in the framework of its plan to “Judaize the country” and cut off its Arab residents from their nation and culture.

In a recent testimony on her experience in Gaza, Rosser asked herself the following question: Did Hamas stage a coup, a planned overthrow of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Gaza Strip? She gave a straightforward answer: “Definitely no.”

Wednesday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and an Israeli public relations drive like this hasn’t been seen for ages. The timing of the unusual effort – never have so many ministers deployed across the globe – is not coincidental: When the world is talking Goldstone, we talk Holocaust, as if out to blur the impression. When the world talks occupation, we’ll talk Iran as if we wanted them to forget.

“I have every sympathy with the Jewish people for their horrific suffering in the Holocaust,” said Awad Abdel Fattah, the secretary general of the National Democratic Assembly party.

“But Mohammed Barakeh is participating in a delegation that wants to use the Holocaust as a way to win sympathy not for the Jewish victims but for an Israeli occupation and Zionist settler project that come at the expense of the Palestinian people.”

The short video clip was filmed during the summer of 2008, in the houses of Sheikh Jarrah, not long before the eviction of the Al-Kurd family from their home. Two teenagers who knew English became the ambasadors of the entire neigborhood, and gave us a guided tour around it. They tell about the neighbourhood life before the eviction, in the shadow of settlers’ violence (including violence towards children), which is backed by the Israeli police force.

The walls of Gaza are the unofficial Gazette of the Strip. On them one can follow what is going on. The walls are covered by scores of posters, pictures of martyrs, murals, slogans, calls, giant portraits of Yasser Arafat by the young artist Mohammad Ed-Derry, announcements…

Israel warned that any report which didn’t put the blame 100 percent on Hamas was inherently biased and declared that it showed the hypocrisy of the entire planet and a global bias against Israel. The US House of Representatives [Or as I like to refer to it, Knesset West] also condemned the report as “unfair” and called for the president to block its consideration.

Israeli Propaganda Minister Edelstein told Ynet before leaving for New York. "The connection between the Goldstone Report and the international Holocaust memorial day is not an easy thing”. He is indeed correct. The true interpretation of the Goldstone report is that Israelis are the Nazis of our time. “We must learn the lessons from what happened” Says Edelstein, “then too, those who yelled out were told that Hitler is a clown and that all the gloomy predictions of the 1930s were nonsense.”

Someone should advise the Israeli Propaganda man that by now no one regards mass murderer Barak, Nuclear enthusiast Peres, warmonger Livni or ultra racist Lieberman as clowns. We respect them for what they are. Yet, we prefer to see them locked behind bars.

"I am overwhelmed with the enormous realisation that an entire generation of damaged children lay squarely at the feet of humanity, and humanity has slammed the door in their faces. I am haunted by this........it's their eyes"

Many students in the Gaza Strip aspire to a higher education abroad but the Israeli-Egyptian blockade deprives them of setting out on their journey.

On Tuesday, 26 January 2010 approximately fifteen Israeli settlers from the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on attacked Palestinians in the village of At-Tuwani. The settlers were accompanied by Israeli soldiers in three army jeeps and the settlement security agent of Ma’on. Villagers from At-Tuwani arrived, protesting the settlers coming into their village. An Israeli soldier punched a Palestinian villager, who was hospitalized for his injuries. Immediately thereafter, Israeli settlers began throwing stones at the Palestinian villagers while soldiers fired three canisters of tear gas at Palestinians.

Afterwards, the settlers drove to the entrance of At-Tuwani, and began throwing stones at passers-by on the road.

Mark your calendars – the 6th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will take place across the globe from from the 1st to the 14th of March 2010!

Friday morning a young settler boy in the Al-Kurd home threw bottles from the home towards the Al-Kurd tent. One bottle, directed at a solidarity activist who was filming nearby, contained urine.

Letwin ended his report by saying that all movements start out with a small group sticking to their beliefs and turning it, in time, into a mass movement. He noted that truth goes through 3 phases: ridicule, attack, and self evident.

As a Palestinian who truly loves his homeland and believes that peace and justice will cover my people; I have been looking forward to helping my people especially in the cruel condition they are passing through in the present time. I have significantly been different fields’ pre and post of my university studies for almost 4 years. I have worked as volunteer in civil societies where I practiced tasks to help people and educate children. Since August 2008, I have been dedicating my life to helping my needy people through joining one of the international humanitarian organizations that based in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, I have launched a blog peaceforgaza, through which I have been trying to bring my people suffering to be seen by people internationally.

This was the largest demonstration yet in Sheikh Jarakh, were for some time now a demo is taking place every Friday, much like the demos in Bil’in, Nilin and other places.

The Friday before, the police had brutally squashed the protest and arrested 11 demonstrators, among them the director of the Association for Human Rights. Contrary to their usual treatment of peace demonstrations, the media this time covered the event extensively. The behavior of the police upset many who generally do not take part in demonstrations. This time they felt they must take part.

it is unclear why Israel allows flour into Gaza but does not allow the transfer of vinegar or coriander.

The Israeli Foreign Service should be thanking each and every protester in Sheikh Jarrah. The international media is now carrying stories about Israelis that want an end to separation and racism. Israelis that will face police brutality and go to jail if necessary. This is a face of Israel that needs to be seen and thanks to the dedication of the direct action peace camp in Israel, the message is getting across. Forget about field hospitals in Haiti, images from Sheikh Jarrah, Bil’in, Nil’in and Nebi Salah of Israeli battling the occupation head on with non violence are the best thing for the state.

“All I want is my basic rights to learn and study; rights that are supposed to be guaranteed and recommended by all the international resolutions and the United Nations.”

“I am not asking for a miracle, it is my reserved right. I am handling all my documents, visa, acceptance letter from my university and supporting documents. Why I am being prevented from leaving Gaza and prevented access to Spain?”

As an Irishman, I will start my post today with a quote from Bobby Sands about our own struggle for freedom and justice as it also applies to Palestine:

“Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small; no one is too old or too young to do something.”

Since our return from Gaza, I had great plans of writing many posts, covering each incident and event in an orderly fashion. But each time I sat down to write I had problems. I was trying to write in order of events, covering one subject in each post, then moving on to the next event. This went on for two days as those who have been waiting to read of our trip can attest.

I also have a dream that one day the Jewish state, a state sweltering in the heat of injustice, sweltering in the heat of oppression; will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and fairness.

I have a dream that in the ‘Jew-Only State’ people will not be judged according to the blood of their (Jewish) mother, but rather by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

US President Barack Obama says his administration overestimated its ability to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks.

There are some foreign policy issues that Angela Merkel does not like to talk about. One is Afghanistan. The other is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So when she was asked about Israel’s settlement policy and the blockade of Gaza during a joint news conference here Monday with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, she minimized the issue. It was time to restart the peace process, she said, moving quickly to another topic.

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, the author reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.